Eaves trough



July 5, 1960 Filed April 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.|

INVENTOR.

EUGENE B. SQUIRE S ATTORNEY July 5, 1960 E. B. SQUIRES 2,943,421

EAVES THOUGH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 2, 1958 v INVENTOR.

EUGENE B. soulmzs ATTORNEYS United States Patent EAVES TROUGH Eugene B. Squires, 16125 Parkland Drive, Shaker Heights, Ohio Filed Apr. 2, 1958, Ser. No. 725,815

'4 Claims. (Cl. 50- 4) This invention pertains to eaves-troughs or gutters and more particularly to an improved eaves-trough assembly for an associated building; the assembly providing improved protection from water damage.

Overflow of gutters occurs as a result of any one of several reasons alone or in combination; for example, in geographic areas where freezing is experienced, ice blockage of gutters is a major problem. An ice collection in a gutter causes water to back up along the edge of the roof. This water will flow under the shingles and behind the facia board, causing rotting and decay of the roofing components and doing water damage to the building interior. It has been discovered that ice damage can be materially reduced through the provisions of this invention wherein a protecting lip is extended from the back wall over the gutter. Under proper circumstances, this lip forces the build-up of ice to be at the outer extremity of the eaves-trough. It substantially prevents the buildup of ice at the rear of the gutter, which ice in prior known gutters causes water to back up onto the roof and over the back of the gutter.

Heavy rain in some instances will cause overflow. In buildings equipped with prior known gutters, water coming off the roof into the trough will splash back up and over the rear lip of the eaves-trough. This water will work into and under the roofing material and penetrate into the building. This splashing and subsequent penetration will cause rotting of materials in the vicinity of the gutter as well as damage to the interior of the building. Heavy rains, particularly in gutters which have a collection of leaves and other foreign material, can cause similar damage.

Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to "provide a protection device which will prevent water damage to the roof edge or from leaking to the interior.

Adother principal object of the invention is to employ the normal waste heat loss of a building to control iceformation in an eaves trough.

Yet another of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a novel and improved gutter having a rear over-hanging lip which extends beyond the roof edge and thereby conducts water to an outward portion of the gm 1 ter and which also serves as a splash guard in order to prevent water from splashing out at the back or building contacting side of the trough.

Another and related object of the invention is to provide a novel and 'improved gutter assembly wherein an over-hanging lip is placed in a posit-ion, abutting the under .side of the roof throughout substantially the entire longitudinal extent of the gutter and wherein the trough,

A very high percentage of normal gutter installations permit some degree of this water seepage to take place. Over a period of time, this will result in deterioration to paint and to the wood itself, even though the gutter may not be displaced fully as described above.

Therefore, another object of the invention is to provide an eaves-trough assembly wherein the over-hanging, or water diverting, lip is a flashing element independent from the eaves-trough. With such a construction, the diverter flashing element hugs tightly to the top of the facia board against the roofing edge the full length of the building, and the gutter may be sloped at any desired angle, without special custom-made construction and with the full advantage of water and ice protection at all times.

Yet another principal object of the invention is to pro vide a novel and improved gutter assembly which has an over-hanging lip extending a substantial distance over the trough and beyond the roof edge to prevent a damaging ice build-up.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the improved eaves-trough assembly of separate shield and standard gutter connected to a building, the end being on a cleavage plane to show the related construction;

Figure 2 is a sectional view through a gutter assembly substantially identical to that of Figure 1, with the associated build-ing modified to the extent that the asphalt roofing is extended upon the flashing diverter member beyond the normal roof edge;

Figure 3 is a view corresponding to a section view and shows an alternate form of the improved flashing; and

Figure 4 is a standard half round contoured gutter with a lip made in accordance with the present invention.

In the drawings, a trough assembly is indicated generally by the reference character 10. A house roof-eave section is shown which has a facia board 11 to which the trough assembly 10 is afiixed. Any well-known attachment means may be used and since the attachment is not a part of the invention the attachment means is not shown.

The roof-cave section shown has a shingled roof indicated at 12. The shingles are shown somewhat scheman'cally since they do not form a part of the invention. The features of the invention are-of courseto protect the roof and building.

Referring to the preferred embodiments shown in Figures 1 through 3, a diverting member flashing is disclosed which is a unit separate from the eaves-trough member. An over-hanging lip portion 14 and a mounting portion 15 form the diverting member flashing. It will be seen that the diverting member flashing is an elongated angle member with the portions 14, 15 at an acute angle with one another. When made of sheet metal, the outer extremity is folded upon itself at edge 19 to provide reinforcing part 16 which strengthens the over-hanging lip portion 14.

:In Figures 1 and 2 the reinforcing part extends rearwardly past the plane of the building contacting portion 15 to a roof contacting overlayment portion 21 which extends back under the shingles 12. Although any amount of roof overlayment will be beneficial, as a practical embodiment, the portion 21 should extend a distance at least equal to the projection distance of the edge 19. This construction prevents any water which may back up from flowing into the building under the roofing. In Figure 3, a modification is shown which is simple to manufacture and install. In this modification, the reinforcing part 16 is bent tightly against the lip 14.

13 also has a front or outer wall 17. The trough member 13 defines a water conduction path indicated by the numeral 18. The front wall 17 has a top edge 20. In all figures of the drawing, edges 19 and 20 define an elongated water ingress opening. This opening permits water to enter the water conduction path 18. The opening defined by the edges 19, 20 has a transverse dimension from one to three times the transverse dimension of the lip 14. Or expressed in another way, the lip 14 covers from one-fourth to one-half of the conduction path 18. Preferably, the transverse lip dimension is one-third the transverse dimension of the opening to cover one-third of the path 18.

. The trough assembly 13 of Figure 4 is a gutter of the half round hanging type. type gutter is. equipped with the novel and improved water and ice diverting lip 14, wherein a minimum extension of one-fourth the distance across the mouth of the gutter provides exceptional ice and snow diversion as well as protection against splash.

One problem encountered with eaves-troughs or gutters isthat during rain storms or rapid thaws, large amounts of water are brought into the trough. When the water is enteringthe trough rapidly itwill splash upwardly and rearwardly over the back wall of the trough. This water wets-the under surface of the roof and promotes deterioration of the sheathing and the surrounding building members. The novel and improved lip of the present trough, extending a minimum of one-fourth the distance over the gutter, has. been found to serve as an excellent splash guard. The lip 14 keeps water in the trough and prevents its escape at the back of the trough and in the event of overloading of the gutters forces overflow out and away from the building proper. g

'lhe back'wall 22 of the conventional trough extends up under the. mounting or trough contactingportio'n 1 5 of the diverter member so that water cannot get behind the back wall of the trough. Thus, the back wall 22 is both a building contacting wall and a wall which contacts the mounting'portion 15. Paint, such as the wellknown Tinners Redjor a suitable mastic, is applied to the portion 15 and the house contacting wall 22 to bond them together to prevent water from seeping up between them; This can be accomplished by painting the trough contacting side of the' portion 15 immediately before it is installed.

Capillary. action of water running off the edge of shingle 12 has been found to tend to creep back under the shingle. With the use of lip 14, the shingles can be extended beyond the roof edge, as suggested in Figure 2. It has been found that the summer sun will heat-seal roofing to lip 14.

Ice is an extremely damaging problem frequently encountered. An ice accumulation is indicated by the numeral 25. An ice collection 25 in prior known troughs will cause damage to the associated building by allowing repeated wetting, and more indirect damage by causing additional water to back up onto the roof. This blocked water will get under the roof and into the associated building parts. The diverting lip 14 prevents this sort of damage by its novel effect upon accumulation of ice and snow.

Ice usually forms in gutters because the temperature conditions are such that snow on the house roof will be melted by heat loss through the roof. The water trickles to the eaves gutter and is there refr'ozen. According to the discovery of this invention, the ice and snow accumulations are diverted to the front portion of the trough in an astounding manner. The ice has been found to form substantially'only to the front of the trough when the lip 14 of this invention is provided. It has originally throught that the unusual ice formation was caused solely by physical interferences. Although the actual reason for the beneficial ice formation shape has not been established,

thereare plausible explanations which are suggested only for consideration and n'ot'asan absolute, explanation.

This half round hanging 1. Deflection.The lip 14 prevents water in the trough from splashing and prevents ice from forcing up under the roof. Thus the lip serves as a deflector or a dam.

2. Another explanation for the superiority of this trough is found in the law of physics known as Regelation. The contact of the metal object with water at the freezing point has the effect of lowering the temperature at which freezing will take place. As ice builds up in the trough it will come in contact with the lower part of the reverse flange or lip 14. The ice, as it contacts the metal, will cause pressure. The pressure has a tendency to melt the ice and to have the freezing delayed or reverted to a lower freezing temperature. This aids in causing the ice formations to be at the outer or front of the gutter.

3. Another and perhaps more obvious explanation for the superiority of this gutter is that it will be noted that the ice formation is at the front of the gutter in the area of the ingress opening defined by the edges 19, 20. Thus, even if the trough is filled with ice, water can be carried on the'top of the lip and against the ice. Overflow will take place to the front. It will be seen that the edge 20 is below the edge 19 to facilitate this \ice overflow. Actual experience has proven that all ice formation takes place as icicles hanging from the front of the gutter rather than as an ice buildup.

4. The law of conduction also contributes largely to the characteristics of this invention. The gutter and connecting parts are somewhat warmed by the building to which they are attached. This is particularly true in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2. Warmth is conducted from the roof contacting part 21 to the lip 19 which acts to' inhibit the formation of ice adjacent the lip. Use of the preferred embodiment of this invention has shown a remarkable tendency of the ice and snow to retreat from the lip 19. The visual evidence was positive and yet an understanding of the phenomena was not available until sensitive heat measuring devices were attachedto various parts of the gutter.- It was then found that the small amount of heat leakage through the roof of even a wellinsulated building produces a temperature gradiant which causes the phenomena of retreating. V

.The lip 14, through conduction, carries the heat gradiant out over the gutter to force the heat retraction a maximum distance from the supporting structure.

The invention has yet another advantage. is well known, the eaves-troughs depend on gravity to cause water flow. Th u 's, at one end of the eaves trough, the trough may be close to the roof and cover most of the facia:

plate to provide maximum protection. The trough slopes continuously to the outlet thereof. See Figure 1. In prior-known troughs, this sloping affords water an opportunity to escape over the top of the back wall by means of the previous mentioned splashing and to get in behind the gutter.

. In most prior-known troughs, the top of the front leading edge referred to in Figure 3 as 20 and the top of the rear edge, or house contacting portions of the gutter referred to in Figure 3 as 22 are of about equal height.

ing itself. Infreezing weatheigwater which tends to get in behind the gutter will freeze and expand and pusli the trough or gutter away from the building. As time goes by, the opening between the trough and building graduallyincrease. Extensive rotting and other damage can result, as'noted.

Another advantage of thi s invention is, that regardless ofthe method of'application, itis almost physically impossible to have the lower lip 20 of the gutter higher than thetopof the portion 15 or higher thanthe lower edge 19;

problems of rotting" damages and the pulling of the gutters away from the buildings in prior-known inventions are overcome by this invention. In the preferred embodiment, the water diverting member is connected to the building in a horizontal position. It need not slope downward. Thus it is up against and abutting the roof throughout its longitudinal extent. The trough, of course, slopes to provide the gravity flow.

Actual tests and commercial installations of this invention have provided surprising results. A well-known prior eaves-trough was placed side-by-side with an eavestrough equipped with the water diversion flashing of this invention. After average snowfalls in freezing weather, the prior-known trough was completely filled in each instance. The trough made in accordance with this invention stayed free and continued to function at all times. Seepage appeared in several places in the building walls behind the prior-known trough. No seepage occurred where the improved device was installed. Many installations which have been made to date have been repair or replacement jobs in buildings which have often experienced Water damage from eaves-trough backup. All such problems have been completely eliminated in each of these installations.

Four plausible explanations have been set forth as to why the gutters of this invention remain operative. One further observation should be made, even though it may appear obvious: The geometric design of the cover, without more, will provide a distinct advantage. The diverting lip forms a canopy offering protection of approximately 35% of the total gutter ingress opening. Any snow accumulation, therefore, forms along the outside edge of the gutter and the inside area is left more open. This combined with conducted heat, helps keep gutters free of blockage during almost all winter weather. If downspouts are blocked, overflow is forced to the outside edge of the gutter.

While the eaves-trough has been shown in several of the many possible forms it will be seen that the assembly essentially comprises an elongated trough which defines a water conduction path. The trough has an over-hanging lip and an ingress opening which is outward of the lip. The ingress opening has a greater transverse dimension than the lip to take advantage of all the ice prevention features set out above. It also affords maximum splash and other water damage protection when so constructed.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

'1. In a building construction having a plurality of rafters ending in roof line, an ice and snow controlling eaves trough assembly carried along said roof line to carry away water shed from a roof surface supported by said rafters, said assembly comprising, an elongated trough defining a water conducting path, the trough having a longitudinally extending front wall with a trough outer edge defining one transverse extremity of the path, the trough also having a longitudinally extending building contacting wall defining the other transverse extremity of the path, said building contacting wall adapted to extend along and be supported by said plurality of rafters, said walls defining an elongated water conducting trough, and an ice and snow diverter means in the form of a longitudinal top lip configuration extending from the building contacting wall outwardly over the trough, and overlapped in a return bend back and over said building contacting wall and ending in a roof overlayment strip interfittable with the associated building roofing, and adapted to overlap the roof area to a position over said rafters, and lip extending to a lip outer edge, said lip outer edge and the trough outer edge defining a longitudinally extending opening for the ingress of water to the trough, said opening having a transverse dimension within the range of one to three times the transverse dimension of the lip, and the lip outer edge being above the front wall of the trough.

2. In a building construction having a plurality of rafters ending in roof line, an ice and snow controlling eaves trough assembly carried along said roof line to carry away water shed from a roof surface supported by said rafters, said assembly comprising, an elongated trough defining a water conducting path, the trough having a longitudinally extending front Wall with a trough outer edge defining one transverse extremity of the path, the trough also having a longitudinally extending building contacting wall defining the other transverse extremity of the path, said building contacting wall adapted to extend along and be supported by said plurality of rafters, said walls defining an elongated water conducting trough, and a separate elongated heat conducting diverter member, said diverter member having a longitudinally extending strip portion overlapping the said building contacting wall of the trough, said strip bordered by a longitudinal bottom edge, said strip bordered by a longitudinal top heat trap lip configuration wherein the material of the diverter is bent outwardly at an acute angle with respect to the strip portion over the trough and overlapped in a return bend back and over the strip portion and ending in a roof overlayment strip portion, adapted to overlap the roof area to a position over said rafters, said return bend creating a lip diverter having an outer edge, the lip outer edge and the trough front wall defining a longitudinally extending opening for the ingress of water into the trough, said opening having a transverse dimension Within the range of one to three times the transverse dimension of the lip, and the lip outer edge being above the front wall of the trough.

3. In the heat trap lip configuration as defined in the trough assembly of claim 2, said return bend being spaced from the forward bend to produce a heat trap open space.

4. In a building construction having a roof line defined by aligned ends of a plurality of rafters, the provision of an improved heat conducting diverter member flashing over said aligned rafter ends and providing a heat trap lip extending outwardly beyond said roof line with a roof contacting strip portion extending back under the roof, said flashing being an imperforate metal strip having an elongated facia wall portion with the top bent outwardly and downwardly at an acute angle with respect to the facia wall portion and overlapped in a return bend back and over the wall portion and ending in a roof overlayment strip portion adapted to overlap the roof area to a position over said rafters, said diverter member following the roof line, and a trough gutter carried under said roof line, said gutter pitched at an angle with respect to said roof line, said portion of the diverter bent outwardly and back in a return bend overhanging the trough to produce a remainder water ingress to the trough Within a range of one to three times the transverse dimension of the overhanging portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 603,611 Nye May 3, 1898 667,821 Fingles Feb. 12, 1901 929,684 Mills et a1 Aug. 3, 1909 1,762,756 Braunstein June 10, 1930 2,209,741 Sullivan July 30, 1940 2,542,155 Moller Feb. 20, 1951 2,613,621 Schraeder Oct. 14, 1952 2,784,687 Hovey Mar. 12, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 21,094 Great Britain 1905 1,049,931. France 1953 

